The Repair Campaign: Updates & Latest News
November 28, 2023
Ghana Reparations Conference
A four-day reparations summit was held in Accra, Ghana earlier this month which brought together members of the African Union and CARICOM to intensify efforts in seeking reparations for chattel slavery. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said financial reparations are long overdue as compensation for the enslavement of people of African descent. One of the outcomes of the event was agreement on establishing a Global Reparations Fund based in Africa but the action plan did not specify how the fund would operate or what form reparations would take.
Clive Lewis addresses Parliament
Labour MP Clive Lewis spoke in the House of Commons Chamber during a debate about the King’s Speech, making the case for reparatory justice and reparations for the Caribbean. Watch the clip here.
Mr Lewis has also released a podcast called ‘Heirs of Enslavement’ with Laura Trevelyan. It tells the story of how Clive, a descendant of an enslaved, and Laura, a descendant of an enslaver, explore their shared history and if the wrongs of the past can be addressed through reparations. You can watch the clip here.
The Black Consciousness Festival
The Repair Campaign spoke with Crystal Crawford, Poet Laureate of Guyana’s National Reparations Committee on November 20th, at the culmination of The Black Consciousness Festival. The conversation was titled “Healing and Reconnection through Apology: Why Reparations?” You can view the full video here along with recordings of all this year’s conversations here.
CRR reparations series
The Centre for Reparation Research hosted the first conversation in their Reparations Conversations series on November 8, 2023. Professor Verene Shepherd director of the CRR was joined by guest speaker Véronique Mottier, Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge to discuss Jesus College’s decision to repatriate a Benin Bronze to Nigeria as well as their campaign to remove a monument to a former investor in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans. The conversation will be made available on UWI TV.
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